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| Editorial : Tigers on the menu | |
| The shocking photograph of five
butchered tigers published in this newspaper and around the world
yesterday was a grim reminder of the steep uphill struggle of wildlife
monitors and animal conservationists -- and indeed governments -- against
the unceasing depredations of the heartless and greedy. In the frame of a
single photograph lay the decapitated remains of one per cent of
Peninsular Malaysia's tiger population, estimated to have dwindled to
fewer than 500 in just the past 50 years.
In recent years, the stalwart and for the most part sterling efforts of conservationists, animal biologists and non-governmental organisations such as the Malaysian Nature Society and the World Wide Fund for Nature have ensured that popular awareness of and concern for natural habitats and wildlife in general, and tigers in particular, has increased by leaps and bounds. The effort is, of course, constant; just yesterday, WWF Malaysia's Datuk Dionysius Sharma wrote in our Letters pages on the measures villagers at the forest fringe could take to minimise human-tiger contact to protect animals both domestic and wild. The contents of Sharma's memo form an element of WWF Malaysia's National Tiger Action Plan, launched late last month to considerable attention in wildlife protection circles worldwide. The plan seeks to crank up enforcement of legislation on wildlife conservation and management and heighten vigilance against the scourge of poaching, with an ambitious view towards not just arresting the decline in the tiger population but reversing it, in hope of doubling the number of tigers in the peninsula to 1,000 over the next decade. However, all the goodwill and best intentions in the world, even alloyed with sincere governmental concern and concerted action, have not been able to withstand the clandestine activities of poachers, smugglers and illegal breeders making up to RM100,000 for a single tiger carcass destined for the exotic cooking pots and traditional apothecaries of continental East Asia. As long as the tiger's deconstructed parts continue to command stratospheric prices among such consumers, these animals will continue to be dragged down the road to extinction. While such efforts as the Tiger Action Plan deserve unstinting public and official support to protect these animals where they live, equivalent pressure must also be brought to bear on the countries at the other end of the food chain -- above all China, destination of choice for the bulk of this odious traffic -- to do their part in staunching the demand for exotic meats and medicines among their citizenries. CORRECTION In the editorial above, we have mistakenly associated the National Tiger Action Plan with the World Wide Fund for Nature. The plan is actually under the aegis of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, having been assembled with input from the WWF and other concerned governmental and non-governmental agencies. We regret the error and are pleased to set the record straight. |
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